In the 13-year period of 2005 through 2017, canines killed 433 Americans. Pit bulls contributed to 66% (284) of these deaths. Combined, pit bulls and rottweilers contributed to 76% of the total recorded deaths. | More »

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2018 Dog Bite Fatality: Pit Bull Kills Owner in Baker City Who Tried to Stop a Dog Fight Inside His Home

Mitchelle Dean Segerdahl, 53, died after one of his six pit bulls clamped onto his neck.

Letter to the EditorUPDATE 09/20/18: On Wednesday, the Baker City Herald published a follow up article in their print version. We were able to gain a copy. Baker City Police did receive a complaint about one of Mitchelle Segerdahl's pit bulls on July 26. One of his dogs had reportedly nipped at someone's ankle and was growling and acting aggressively, Police Chief Dustin Newman told the Herald. Police met with Segerdahl at his home and the matter was resolved -- no citation was issued.

At some point (no date was listed), police cited Segerdahl for failing to have a kennel permit. All households harboring more than four dogs are required to have a kennel permit, according to a local ordinance. Segerdahl obtained a permit on January 3, 2018. "If you're having too much of a problem, we will revoke a kennel permit," Chief Newman said. Apparently, that was not the case with Segerdahl, who also had to undergo a background check in order to obtain the permit.

"We all knew about the dogs," Chief Newman said, adding that they were well cared for, reports the Herald.

The major issue with Segerdahl's six pit bulls is that they would fight each other, Newman said. When police discovered Segerdahl dead inside his home on September 9, two of his six pit bulls were also dead. The dogs literally fought to their death. A September 14 news release issued by District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff states, "Evidence at the scene indicated that Mr. Segerdahl may have been attempting to break up a fight between the dogs when he received a fatal dog bite."

The Herald also interviewed Kiashandra Zimmerman, who was a good friend of Segerdahl and owns a pit bull named Batman. Despite the dogs mauling their owner to death, Zimmerman believes his surviving four pit bulls could have been adoptable. Zimmerman, who has a 3-year old daughter, said she would have gladly taken in at least two of his pit bulls, if she did not already have three dogs. Segerdahl's four remaining pit bulls were impounded by officials and euthanized.

Finally, the Herald did publish a letter to the editor on their website. Steve Culley questioned why the September 14 front page of the paper was monopolized by the recent cougar attack in Oregon, but Segerdahl's death was allocated to page two. "We have had our second pit bull death in Baker City," Culley states (since 2013 and in a city of less than 10,000 people). "The odds of being killed by a pit bull far exceed any probability of being killed by a cougar or bear," Culley said.

09/14/18: Man Killed by His Own Pit Bull Baker City, OR - A 53-year old man died after he was attacked by a pit bull in the neck, District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff said in a press release. Mitchelle Dean Segerdahl was found dead inside his home on September 9 along with six pit bulls, two of which were dead. The cause of death was determined to be a dog bite to his neck. All six pit bulls belonged to Segerdahl. Officials believe Segerdahl was trying to break up a fight between the pit bulls when he suffered a fatal bite.

"Evidence at the scene indicated that Mr. Segerdahl may have been attempting to break up a fight between the dogs when he received a fatal dog bite." - District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff

Shirtcliff said it appears the two dead pit bulls died as a result of the dog fight. "The four remaining dogs were impounded by the Baker City Police Department and have been euthanized," states the release. Police said it was unclear exactly when the fight happened, but friends had not seen Segerdahl since September 6. In 2013, in this same small city, Jordan Ryan, 5-years old, was mauled to death by a recently adopted "rescue" pit bull belonging to his babysitter, Mary Lane.

Ten days ago, Robin Conway, 64-years old, was killed by a pit bull she had rescued from death row two weeks earlier in Columbia, Maryland. In February, David Brown, 46, died after trying to break up a fight between his family pit bull and beagle in Owensboro, Kentucky. In March, Hong Saengsamly, 49, was violently attacked and killed by her own pit bull in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Finally, in August, Della Riley, 42, was brutally killed by her family pit bull in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Needless to say, 2018 will weigh in as a heavy year for pit bulls killing their owners, the very hands that house and feed them. On the Baker City Herald Facebook page, a woman named Nina Walker claims to be Segerdahl's neighbor. She claims his pit bulls killed her dog and that he was also trying to obtain a dog kennel license for his home at 2251 Mitchell Avenue to bring in more pit bulls. We hope the Baker City Herald can verify some of these claims in the next few days.

The Baker City animal ordinance does state that a kennel permit is required to harbor more than four dogs. All property owners within 600 feet of the proposed kennel property are sent written notice in advance and have 30 days to respond if they oppose the issuance of the permit. In May 2016, Segerdahl reported to police that five of his adult pit bulls were stolen from his van while parked on Broadway Street. Segerdahl was already in violation of the city ordinance back then.

One man said he thought it pits could be safe, but cautioned Only get a young puppy to raise, never accept an older puppy or an adult Keep it away from all other pets and animals for life. Only own one dog at a time Only own a female.

Just another sweet wiggle butt pibble who licked its owner to death. I’m sure they wagged their tails the whole time.

The proverb “live by the sword, die by the sword” seems to be fitting for these land shark owners who are being killed by their “pet” of choice. I’ll change it to “live by the pit, die by the pit.”

I’d be willing to bet a large amount of money that if Mr. Segerdahl had owned 6 Chihuahuas – the most vicious breed ever, according to pit nutters- he’d still be very much alive and utilizing Band-Aids for the superficial wounds caused by breaking up a Chihuahua fight.

I am never happy when someone dies so violently and preventably, and I feel terrible for Mr. Sergerdahl’s family, but I am always relieved when the person murdered by a pit bull was the dog’s owner. It’s too often that it’s a child, relative, or neighbor of the offending creature’s owner. When you choose to own an animal (or 6 of them) bred for explosive, unpredictable violence, that gets aroused by death and pain, and wags its tail while eviscerating, decapitating, and dismembering its victims, then YOU should face the consequences – not unsuspecting innocents.

We’ve added two paragraphs at the end that talk about the city’s 4 dog limit and the kennel license, that apparently the victim was trying to acquire. The Baker City Herald is a tri-weekly paper. It publishes on Monday. So hopefully, there will be more backstory then.

I can’t imagine how horrific a fight involving six pit bulls would be, especially one that ended up with three fatalities. It probably looked and sounded like someone opened up the gates to Hell.

Thank goodness they euthanized those dogs. There are people commenting on the news story who are lamenting the fact they were euthanized, and no doubt those idiots would make an attempt to save these dogs.

And I’ll lay you dollars to donuts that they donate money to animal groups, including their local shelter. Which would never EVER lie to them about those dear, sweet widdle pibbles that are looking so sad and need a forever home.

Following the links, I went to the Pima Country animal control site. At least half of the dogs are pit bulls. That’s pretty typical for a large shelter. However, there’s no way that half of the dog population in the US is composed of pit bulls.

Honestly, that so many pit bulls end up at shelters suggests there’s something wrong here. Either these dogs are, on average, less suitable as pets than other breeds, and/or the people who seek them out are frequently irresponsible dog owners. I think it’s a combination of both. Aside from the fatal maulings these dogs cause, they are a huge drain on municipal finances. Large numbers of them seem to have to be cared for at public animal shelters. Pit bull breeders are basically a huge drain on society in terms of public health and finances.

2 thoughts: 1) my local shelter has had “free pitbull” weekends, where the adoption and other fees are waived for people adopting a pitbull. I would assume other shelters have similar “deals.” Senior age people & people with children, are more likely to be on a limited income than middle age people, and hence I think more likely to take advantage of this “free” offer. Even though sadly they are are most at risk from pits. 2) I think Pits often “cull the herd”, meaning they go for the weakest in the herd (people) around them, which will be children and seniors.

The other day at my job we had a client drop off her pit mix for surgery. There were notes on the dogs chart indicating that the dog needs to be muzzled because he tried to bite. So, our protocol if we know that a dog is a biter, is to place a sticker on the cage ticket that reads “may bite”. Well, the owner saw the sticker and said “oh, he doesn’t bite, he just does not do well with new and my co worker was lleading the dog to our surgery area,that dog bit my coworker on the hand . My co worker was not even trying to touch he dog as he had his hands away from him. “Doesn’t bite” …my ass. One think that has been confirmed on almost a daily basis at my job is that ALL of the clients the we have that own pits, pitmixes, “boxer mixes” and what have you have this same mentality. They are idiots.

Dear Concerned Vet Tech. Right on. Owners who contact me for training often conceal that they have a pit by calling it the usual ‘boxer blend’ or now, ‘Lab Mix.’ The only way I have learned to dodge these dogs, and people, is to have then send me a picture of the dog. When I ask that most of them go away which is the desired outcome. The ones that do send a pic and it is a pit X I explain that my insurance does not cover me for pits, etc. To tell them I wont get near their sweet pibble bits is business suicide and i can’t afford to do that. Too bad vets can’t. They’d spend less on workers comp

My neighbor owns one of these beasts (a huge male) and refuses to leash it. I have to be very careful when going out to make sure the thing is inside. It’s aggressive and jumps on and chases people. She grabs it by the collar when she’s close enough but otherwise just yells at it hoping it will stop. One day I will see that dog snap and I can only hope it doesn’t kill someone. I’ve alerted animal control to no effect. I had a relative mauled by a friendly family pibble and they had reconstructive surgery. These dogs are lethal.

I would look into whatever self-defense methods are legal in your area (ie conceal carry, stun gun, pit break stick.) It is disgusting that your neighbor is ignoring the obvious problems in her dog and waiting for it to kill someone. Please do what you need to, to protect yourself.